Diya Kumari, who has been named as Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister, on December 12, thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for placing trust in her and providing her the opportunity to serve.
“PM Modi cares for women and policies have been framed by keeping them in focus. Today, trust has been shown in me. So, I would like to thank PM Modi, the party’s national president, Home Minister, Defence Minister, state president, all incharges and everyone else for considering me eligible for this and giving me this responsibility…I am grateful and happy to have received this opportunity. We will work together,” Kumari told media.
Regarding speculations about her not being given the CM post due to reported conflicts with former CM Vasundhara Raje, the Deputy CM chose not to comment on such matters. “I don’t comment on such things. All of us have worked together. She was there too, I received her blessings too,” Kumari said.
Diya Kumari won from the Vidyadhar Nagar constituency against Congress’ Sitaram Agarwal with a margin of 71368 votes. She is the granddaughter of Man Singh II, the last ruling maharaja of the princely state of Jaipur. Her appeal for votes was made as a “daughter of Jaipur” and the “princess who walks on the streets.”
Since joining the BJP in 2013, Diya Kumari has won the two elections she contested. She became an elected Member of the Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan from the Sawai Madhopur constituency in 2013. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, she was elected as an MP from Rajsamand.
Bhajan Lal Sharma’s name as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan was announced by BJP’s Vasundhara Raje, whose name was also among the contenders for the top post. In Rajasthan, the vote count painted a starkly different picture from what some of the pollsters had predicted, with the BJP poised to form the Government, winning 115 seats, and the Congress trailing at 69 seats.
(with inputs from ANI)
